Alternative Approaches to Insurance and Risk Management: A Critical Study of Mutuals and Takaful in India

The project will undertake a field study of the existing Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) Institutions in and around Mumbai, India. Through this study, the researchers will aim to understand the landscape, practices, organizational structure, operations, governance and the impact CBHIs have in reducing the health protection gap in India. The research shall study the scalability potential of CBHIs to complement the existing conventional insurance institutions to increase the penetration and density of insurance in India. Also, the study will focus on the potential for micro-takaful to offer risk management solutions to Muslims in India who are largely uninsured because of a lack of suitable insurance options as per the shariah standards. CBHIs have the potential to offer Takaful (some institutions are already offering it) in India which shall help a majority of the Muslim population, which is mainly uninsured to seek insurance services in compliance with their beliefs.